Position-associated information brokering/acquiring method, brokering computer system, and mobile terminal

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a system for providing a mobile communication terminal the position of which can be detected with location-based information that is associated with a detected position and a method of service for providing the mobile communication terminal with the location-based information automatically and quickly by synchronizing with behavior of the mobile communication terminal. Further, the present invention provides a location-based information intermediation method and a location-based information acquisition method. Still further, the present invention provides the mobile communication terminal and the intermediation computer system for such method.  
     In the location-based information intermediation and acquisition method, an intermediation computer system ( 2 ) on a network intermediates the location-based information provided by a content server ( 4 ) on the network and the mobile communication terminal ( 1 ) on the network acquires desired location-based information by synchronizing with its own behavior by means of the intermediation. The intermediation computer system ( 2 ) transmits an information source and distribution condition list to the mobile communication terminal ( 1 ) in response to a request of the mobile communication terminal ( 1 ) or a client computer ( 6 ). The mobile communication terminal ( 1 ) verifies the behavior of the mobile communication terminal ( 1 ) against the distribution conditions of the information source indicated in said received information source and distribution condition list and then accesses the verified information source so as to receive the location-based information for presentation.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to a location-based informationintermediation and acquisition method, and more particularly, it relatesto a method for acquiring location-based information that is in relationto a detected position in a mobile communication terminal the positionof which is detectable, a method for intermediation service thatsynchronizes with behavior of the mobile communication terminal andprovides a mobile communication terminal with the location-basedinformation that is in relation to a position of the mobilecommunication terminal among a plurality of pieces of location-basedinformation provided on a network through support of a intermediationcomputer system, and the mobile communication terminal for utilizingsuch service, or the intermediate computer system for supporting inproviding the service.

BACKGROUND ART

[0002] Four examples of a prior art location-based informationacquisition method that is relatively close to a method of the presentinvention will be shown as follows.

[0003] Prior art 1 (JP-A 160076/1999) discloses a navigation unit thatcommunicates with a destination facility (e.g. a restaurant) to send apredetermined message about a user name, reservation request and so onby e-mail when a vehicle on which the unit is mounted reaches within apredetermined distance from the destination facility on a map installedon the unit or the time required to reach the destination facility comesto a predetermined value.

[0004] However, in the navigation unit shown in the prior art example 1there is a problem that its application is restricted or impracticalsince its terminal cannot know information about the facility that maybe updated daily on the move automatically, moreover an address of thedestination facility must be set in the navigation unit in advance, andtherefore the navigation unit cannot cope with such changes as closingor establishment of facilities or alternation of the contents of theservice provided.

[0005] Prior art 2 (ITS Congress '99 “Proposal of an Algorithm forTransmission and Cash of Location Dependent Data for In-Vehicle ComputerSystem”) discloses another navigation unit that receives a series ofinformation that is necessary for driving such as landmarks located inthe traveling direction, maps and so on successively when the vehiclereaches predetermined positions. This unit receives the series ofinformation that is transmitted from a database through networks by wayof radiowave transmission facilities and so on placed along roadseverywhere. Furthermore, as an extension of this method, this unitobtains data on positions along a planned route in advance and in alump. With this configuration, It may solve the problem that if the dataconcerning the planned route has not been obtained in advance, it takestoo much time to retrieve data concerning landmarks, maps and so on in adatabase after the vehicle has arrived a predetermined position and thenreceive and display the data, and therefore the data may be displayedonly after the vehicle has passed the position corresponding to thedata.

[0006] However, the method as shown in prior art 2 may have thefollowing problems when the vehicle changes its route or stops driving:

[0007] (1) Communication may often be performed uselessly (communicationcosts may often be wasted);

[0008] (2) An extra memory is needed in every navigation unit to storedata for e.g. four nodes (crossovers) in advance;

[0009] (3) This method cannot be adapted when the driving route has notbeen fixed beforehand;

[0010] (4) Since it is not indicated who prepares and updates adatabase, this method may lack in operational feasibility;

[0011] (5) Since the contents of the database are permanent, thenavigation unit according to this method is totally equal in terms offunctions to the conventional navigation units that store the mapdatabase on a storage device such as a CD-ROM or a DVD permanently.

[0012] Next, prior art 3 (JP-A 307035/1998) discloses a system forgrasping a position of a vehicle equipped with a GPS receiver at acenter and resultantly informing the vehicle of appearance of aninformation providing spot in the neighborhood of the vehicle by anycommunicating means. For example, in this system, the center monitorsthat a landmark such as a gas station approaches and informs the vehicleof such situation by telephone, FAX or a pager and the like.

[0013] However, the system shown in prior art 3 has a problem thatsignificant communication costs are wasted uselessly since the vehiclemust transmit location information to the center continuously regardlessof presence of the landmark in the neighborhood. Further, sinceconventional navigation units have already implemented a function tonotify to the vehicle of the approach of the landmark (the gas stationin this example) by setting the gas station as a passing point, there isno need to take a trouble to communicate with the center. Moreover, inthis system shown in prior art 3, the mobile communication terminalcannot know information that is provided by facilities and that would beupdated daily such as, for example, “today's gasoline price—90yen/liter, Aug. 10, 2000”.

[0014] In addition, there has been another prior art wherein a mobilecommunication terminal unit that comprises a PDA or a note PC equippedwith communicating means such as a cellular phone or a PHS and so on,and position detecting means such as a GPS receiver and so on retrievesa facility such as a restaurant in the vicinity of the retrieving pointon the Internet and displays the facility on a map in an overlappingmanner. This system is intended to simply check whether there is adesired facility in the vicinity of a given position. The system mayfurther be configured to display a detailed description when the userselects a mark of a particular facility.

[0015] However, the system described above has a problem thattime-consuming manual operations and retrieval are needed to acquireinformation since the mobile communication terminal unit must access andretrieve sites on the Internet sequentially by manual operation whilethe mobile communication terminal unit moves. Further, it is notfeasible because it may not be safe to operate the mobile communicationterminal unit continuously while driving. Still further, timing toacquire the information may often be delayed in such system.

[0016] Each of the prior art location-based information acquisitionmethods as described above simply provides so-called landmark displayingfunction that gives notice when a predetermined destination facilityapproaches, or simply checks whether there is a desired type offacilities such as shops and restaurants in the neighborhood. Therefore,the information that is provided by the facilities and that would beupdated daily or momentarily such as “today's articles for special saletill 5:00 p.m. are . . . ” cannot be recognized automatically andquickly just prior to passing in front of the facilities. Further, insuch prior art methods, it is impossible to acquire peripheralinformation about the area where the vehicle enters successively andautomatically.

[0017] In view of the foregoing, This invention has been made, and it isan object of this invention to solve the problems described above andprovide a location-based information intermediation and acquisitionmethod that can access a desired information source by synchronizingwith behavior such as a present position or a moving bearing angle, andacquire location-based information (contents) automatically and quickly.Further, this invention provides a mobile communication terminal and anintermediation computer system for implementing such method.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

[0018] A location-based information intermediation and acquisitionmethod according to the present invention, in which an intermediationcomputer system on a network intermediates location-based informationprovided on the network and a mobile communication terminal on thenetwork acquires the desired location-based information thatsynchronizes with behavior of the mobile communication terminal initself by means of the intermediation, includes the steps of:

[0019] in the intermediation computer system, transmitting to the mobilecommunication terminal an information source and distribution conditionlist that associates a location on the network of an information sourcehaving the location-based information that corresponds to specificsearch conditions with distribution conditions that include adistribution area of the location-based information; and

[0020] in the mobile communication terminal, verifying, for eachinformation source, behavior of the mobile communication terminalagainst the distribution conditions of the information source indicatedin the received information source and distribution condition list, andthen receiving and presenting the location-based information byaccessing the verified information source.

[0021] With this configuration, there is an effect that a desiredinformation source may be accessed by synchronizing with the behaviorsuch as the present position or the moving bearing angle to acquire thelocation-based information (the contents) automatically quickly.

[0022] Further, a location-based information intermediation methodaccording to the present invention includes the step of transmitting toa mobile communication terminal an information source and distributioncondition list that associates a location on a network of an informationsource having predetermined location-based information that correspondsto specific search conditions with distribution conditions that includea distribution area of the location-based information.

[0023] With this configuration, there is an effect that the contentserver on the network can provide the specific mobile communicationterminal with desired location-based information quickly.

[0024] Still further, a location-based information intermediation methodaccording to the present invention further includes the step of creatingthe information source and distribution condition list that correspondsto the specific search conditions by searching a database that storesbasic data that associates the location on the network of theinformation source having the location-based information with thedistribution conditions that include the distribution area of thelocation-based information.

[0025] With this configuration, there is an effect that it is possibleto create the list that accommodates various requirements and transmitthe list to the mobile communication terminal.

[0026] Also, there is an effect that the database that is used for otherpurposes such as a content provider database and an administratordatabase may be diverted to the purpose of the intermediation support.

[0027] Still further, an intermediation computer system according to thepresent invention includes: a communicating unit for communicating witha terminal on a network; a database for storing basic data thatassociates a location on a network of an information source havinglocation-based information that is provided on the network withdistribution conditions that include a distribution area of thelocation-based information; and a processing unit for performingoperation to read the basic data that corresponds to the searchconditions from the database when the communicating unit receives searchconditions for the location-based information from the terminal,creating a information source and distribution condition list that iscomprised of the read basic data and then transmitting the basic datathrough the communicating unit to a particular mobile communicationterminal.

[0028] With this configuration, there is an effect that theintermediation computer system can create the list that accommodatesvarious requirements and transmits the list to the mobile communicationterminal, and the content server on the network can provide theparticular mobile communication terminal with the desired location-basedinformation quickly.

[0029] Also, there is an effect that the database that is used for otherpurposes such as a content provider database and an administratordatabase may be diverted to the purpose of the intermediation support.

[0030] Still further, an intermediation computer system according to thepresent invention includes: a communicating unit for communicating witha terminal on a network; a database for storing an information sourceand distribution condition list that associates a location on a networkof an information source having predetermined location-based informationthat is provided on the network with distribution conditions thatinclude a distribution area of the location-based information; and aprocessing unit for performing an operation to read the informationsource and distribution condition list that corresponds to the searchconditions from the database when the communicating unit receives searchconditions for the location-based information from the terminal and totransmit the read information source and distribution condition listthrough the communicating unit to a particular mobile communicationterminal.

[0031] With this configuration, there is an effect that theintermediation computer system can transmit the desired list to themobile communication terminal quickly, and the content server on thenetwork can provide the particular mobile communication terminal withthe desired location-based information quickly.

[0032] Still further, a location-based information acquisition methodaccording to the present invention includes the steps of: receiving fromoutside an information source and distribution condition list thatassociates a location on a network of an information source havingpredetermined location-based information with distribution conditionsthat include a distribution area of the location-based information; andverifying, for each information source, behavior of a mobilecommunication terminal including its location against the distributionconditions of the information source indicated in the receivedinformation source and distribution condition list, and then receivingand presenting the location-based information by accessing the verifiedinformation source.

[0033] With this configuration, there is an effect that thelocation-based information may be acquired and provided successivelyautomatically by synchronizing with the behavior of the mobilecommunication terminal and just at the relevant position.

[0034] Still further, a location-based information acquisition methodaccording to the present invention includes the steps of: requesting anintermediation computer system to provide intermediation support inconnection with predetermined location-based information while attachingsearch conditions for the location-based information provided on anetwork; receiving an information source and distribution condition listthat associates a location on a network of an information source havingthe predetermined location-based information with distributionconditions that include a distribution area of the location-basedinformation from the intermediation computer system via the network; andverifying, for each information source, behavior of a mobilecommunication terminal including its location against the distributionconditions of the information source indicated in the receivedinformation source and distribution condition list, and then receivingand presenting the location-based information by accessing the verifiedinformation source.

[0035] With this configuration, there is an effect that thelocation-based information may be acquired and provided successivelyautomatically by synchronizing with the behavior of the mobilecommunication terminal and just at the relevant position.

[0036] Also, there is an effect that each mobile communication terminalcan acquire the list that meets various requirements.

[0037] Still further, in the above described location-based informationacquisition method according to the present invention, the searchconditions are updated automatically as the mobile communicationterminal moves.

[0038] With this configuration, there is an effect that thelocation-based information may be acquired and provided successivelyautomatically by synchronizing with the behavior of the mobilecommunication terminal and just at the relevant position withoutinputting search conditions newly.

[0039] Still further, the above described location-based informationacquisition method according to the present invention further includesthe step of presenting a screen for inputting the search conditions,wherein the search conditions are specified through the inputting screento request provision of intermediation support.

[0040] With this configuration, there is an effect that thelocation-based information may be acquired and provided successivelyautomatically by synchronizing with the behavior of the mobilecommunication terminal and just at the relevant position.

[0041] Still further, in the above described location-based informationacquisition method according to the present invention, when the behaviorof the mobile communication terminal including a location thereof isverified against the distribution conditions indicated in theinformation source and distribution condition list for each informationsource, if a plurality of information sources that conforms to oneanother is found, the location-based information of the plurality ofinformation sources is displayed on a plurality of screens, and at thesame time, which plurality of screens is displayed so that it can beviewed simultaneously.

[0042] With this configuration, there is an effect that the informationfrom the plurality of information sources may be acquired and thedisplaying screen may be more obvious for the user.

[0043] Still further, a mobile communication terminal according to thepresent invention includes: a communicating unit for communicating withan information source having location-based information; a processingunit for verifying, for each information source, behavior including itslocation against distribution conditions indicated in an informationsource and distribution condition list that associates a location on anetwork of an information source having predetermined location-basedinformation that is input from outside with the distribution conditionsthat include a distribution area of the location-based information, andfor accessing the verified information source via the communicationunit; and a presenting unit for presenting the location-basedinformation that is received from the information source.

[0044] With this configuration, there is an effect that the mobilecommunication terminal may be provided wherein the mobile communicationterminal can acquire and provide the location-based informationsuccessively automatically by synchronizing with the behavior of themobile communication terminal and just at the relevant position.

[0045] Still further, a mobile communication terminal of the presentinvention includes: a communicating unit for communicating with anintermediation computer system on a network and information sourcehaving location-based information; a processing unit for verifying, foreach information source, own behavior including its location againstdistribution conditions indicated in an information source anddistribution condition list that associates a location on a network ofan information source having predetermined location-based informationthat is input via the network with the distribution conditions thatinclude a distribution area of the location-based information and foraccessing the verified information source via the communicating unit;and a presenting unit for presenting the location-based information thatis received from the information source, wherein the processing unitincludes a means for requesting an intermediation computer system toprovide the information source and distribution condition list about thepredetermined location-based information while attaching searchconditions for the location-based information provided on the network.

[0046] With this configuration, there is an effect that the mobilecommunication terminal may be provided wherein the mobile communicationterminal can acquire and provide the location-based informationsuccessively automatically by synchronizing with the behavior of themobile communication terminal and just at the relevant position.

[0047] Also, there is an effect that each mobile communication terminalcan acquire the list that meets various requirements.

[0048] Still further, the above described mobile communication terminalaccording to the present invention updates the search conditionsautomatically and requests provision of the information source anddistribution condition list as the mobile communication terminal moves.

[0049] With this configuration, there is an effect that thelocation-based information may be acquired successively automatically bysynchronizing with the behavior of the mobile communication terminal andjust at the relevant position without inputting search conditions newly.

[0050] Still further, the above described mobile communication terminalaccording to the present invention requests provision of intermediationsupport by specifying the search conditions through an input screen forinputting the search conditions.

[0051] With this configuration, there is an effect that the desiredlocation-based information may be acquired and provided successively andautomatically by synchronizing with the behavior of the mobilecommunication terminal and just at the relevant position.

[0052] Still further, the above described location-based informationintermediation method according to the present invention furtherincludes the step of transmitting an information source and distributioncondition list concerning predetermined location-based information whenreceiving a request to transmit such information source and distributioncondition list with the specific search conditions from any clientcomputer via the network.

[0053] With this configuration, there is an effect that the contentserver on the network can provide the specific mobile communicationterminal with the location-based information in response to the requestfrom any client on the network.

[0054] Still further, the above described location-based informationintermediation method according to the present invention furtherincludes the step of transmitting to the mobile communication terminalan information source and distribution condition list concerning asearch-target area defined by a search center position and rangeinformation specified along with the search center position orpredetermined range information when the search-target area is specifiedas the search conditions and the search-target area is defined at leastby the search center position.

[0055] With this configuration, there is an effect that a burden to themobile communication terminal may be alleviated. More specifically,there is an effect that the mobile communication terminal can perform aprocedure for specifying the search-target area or data calculationrelatively easily by specifying the range to be searched by the centerposition, therefore waste of computation, memory and communicationresources may be minimized.

[0056] Still further, the above described location-based informationintermediation method according to the present invention furtherincludes the step of transmitting to the mobile communication terminalan information source and distribution condition list that is created byexcluding the search result based upon the previous search conditionsfrom the search result based upon the present search conditions when asearch-target area is specified as the search conditions and a pluralityof the search-target area is input successively.

[0057] With this configuration, there is an effect that a burden to themobile communication terminal may be alleviated. More specifically,there is an effect that the mobile communication terminal does not haveto receive the information source that is included in the search-targetrange specified at the previous time twice. Also, there is an effectthat an amount of data transferred via the network may not increaseunnecessarily.

[0058] Still further, the above described location-based informationintermediation method according to the present invention furtherincludes the step of terminating a search if the number of informationsources in the acquired information source and distribution conditionlist exceeds a predetermined upper limit when the information source anddistribution condition list corresponding to the search conditions issearched and created, or expanding a search-target area if the number ofthe information sources in the acquired information source anddistribution condition list is less than a predetermined lower limit.

[0059] With this configuration, there is an effect that the appropriatenumber of the information sources may be provided.

[0060] Still further, the above described location-based informationintermediation method according to the present invention furtherincludes the steps of searching a route from the present position to adestination of the mobile communication terminal and transmitting to themobile communication terminal the information sources and distributioncondition list along the route shown by the searched route informationwhen the present position and the destination are specified as thesearch conditions.

[0061] With this configuration, there is an effect that the informationsource and distribution condition list for a wide range up to thedestination and its vicinity may be provided.

[0062] Still further, the above described location-based informationintermediation method according to the present invention furtherincludes the step of expressing a shared portion of characters, figuresor symbols that are representative of an information source ordistribution conditions and transmitting only an unshared portioncorrespondingly and in a separate manner when the characters, figures orsymbols have the shared portion with regard to either the informationsource or the distribution conditions in the step of transmitting theinformation source and distribution condition list.

[0063] With this configuration, there is an effect that an amount oftransferred data as well as time and costs for communication may bereduced.

[0064] Still further, the above described location-based informationintermediation method according to the present invention furtherincludes the step of billing a provider of predetermined contentsdepending either upon whether a registered terminal has accessed thepredetermined contents, or upon the number of access by the registeredterminal to the predetermined contents.

[0065] With this configuration, there is an effect that a predeterminedcharge may be billed from the content providers who expect a profit byproviding mobile communication terminals in a distribution area withcontents.

[0066] Still further, the above described location-based informationintermediation method according to the present invention furtherincludes the step of billing a registered terminal depending upon thenumber of access in which the registered terminal has received theinformation source and distribution condition list.

[0067] With this configuration, there is an effect that a predeterminedcharge may be billed from the client or the mobile communicationterminal user that utilizes the location-based information or theintermediation service to provide the location-based information.

[0068] Still further, the above described mobile communication terminalaccording to the present invention specifies a search-target area as thesearch conditions and updates the search-target area automatically asthe mobile communication terminal moves.

[0069] With this configuration, there is an effect that thesearch-target area may be updated automatically and new lists may bereceived successively as the mobile communication terminal moves andwithout inputting the search-target area newly.

[0070] Still further, the above described mobile communication terminalaccording to the present invention specifies a particular search-targetarea as the search conditions and specifies the particular search-targetarea through an input screen.

[0071] With this configuration, there is an effect that the list for theparticular search-target area may be acquired at any point of time andin that the mobile communication terminal may access the informationsource and present the information when it enters the distribution areaof the information source contained in the list, therefore the necessarylocation-based information may be acquired at the optimal positionautomatically.

[0072] Still further, the above described mobile communication terminalaccording to the present invention specifies a particular type of thelocation-based information as the search conditions and specifies theparticular type of the location-based information through an inputscreen.

[0073] With this configuration, there is an effect that the mobilecommunication terminal may be acquired the list for acquiring thelocation-based information that is restricted in the particular type atany point.

[0074] Still further, the above described mobile communication terminalaccording to the present invention specifies its own present positionand destination as the search conditions through an input screen.

[0075] With this configuration, there is an effect that the informationsource and distribution condition list may be obtained for a wide rangeup to the destination and its vicinity in advance.

[0076] Still further, the above described mobile communication terminalaccording to the present invention specifies the search-target area atleast by a search center position.

[0077] With this configuration, there is an effect that a procedure forspecifying the search-target area or data calculation may be relativelysimple and therefore waste of computation, memory and communicationresources may be minimized.

[0078] Still further, the above described mobile communication terminalaccording to the present invention specifies a new search-target areathat is an area where the mobile communication terminal should reach bymoving a predetermined distance according to a moving history of themobile communication terminal.

[0079] With this configuration, there is an effect that the list of theinformation source that belongs to the area to which the mobilecommunication terminal is likely to move in a restricted manner.

[0080] Still further, in the above described mobile communicationterminal according to the present invention, the processing unit furtherincludes means for altering a size of a search-target area according tothe number of the information sources in the information source anddistribution condition list that has been received on or before theprevious time and specifying the size of the search-target area as thesearch conditions for the next search.

[0081] With this configuration, there is an effect that the informationsource and distribution condition list having the more suitable numberof the information sources may be acquired at the present time if thetoo many or too little number of the information sources was acquired atthe previous time.

[0082] Still further, in the above described mobile communicationterminal according to the present invention, the processing unit furtherincludes means for specifying a new search-target area as the searchconditions and requesting the information source and distributioncondition list before the present position of the mobile communicationterminal leaves the search-target area that has been specified at theprevious time.

[0083] With this configuration, there is an effect that a possibilitythat the information about the information source to be acquired is lostmay be reduced.

[0084] Still further, in the above described mobile communicationterminal according to the present invention, the processing unit furtherincludes means for specifying the search-target area at the present timeand the search-target area at the previous time as the search conditionssimultaneously.

[0085] With this configuration, there is an effect that it is notnecessary to receive the information source that has been included inthe search area specified at the previous time again. Also, there is aneffect that it is not necessary to increase an amount of datatransferred via the network uselessly.

[0086] Still further, the above described mobile communication terminalaccording to the present invention further includes a navigation unit,wherein the processing unit further includes means for specifying thesearch-target area along a route indicated by route information that hasretrieved by a destination as the search conditions and requesting theintermediation computer system to provide intermediation support forpredetermined location-based information.

[0087] With this configuration, there is an effect that the informationsource and distribution condition list for a more appropriate range maybe acquired and the number of issue of the search requests may bereduced.

[0088] Still further, in the above described mobile communicationterminal according to the present invention, the processing unit furtherincludes means for predicting a position of the mobile communicationterminal based upon a moving history of the mobile communicationterminal and then initiating access to the information source thatcorresponds to distribution conditions in the information source anddistribution condition list when the predicted position conforms to anyof the distribution conditions.

[0089] With this configuration, there is an effect that the mobilecommunication terminal may initiate access to the information source inadvance in consideration of the predicted position corresponding to themoving speed of the mobile communication terminal, and therefore thecorresponding location-based information may be presented in a timelyfashion.

[0090] Still further, in the above described mobile communicationterminal according to the present invention, the processing unit furtherincludes means for predicting a position of the mobile communicationterminal based upon a moving history of the mobile communicationterminal and simultaneously altering the position to be predicteddepending upon a data size of the location-based information, and theninitiating access to the information source that corresponds to any ofdistribution conditions in the information source and distributioncondition list when the altered predicted position conforms to thedistribution conditions.

[0091] With this configuration, there is an effect that the mobilecommunication terminal may initiate access to the information source inadvance for the predicted position according to the data size, andtherefore the corresponding location-based information may be presentedin a timely fashion.

[0092] Still further, in the above described mobile communicationterminal according to the present invention, the processing unit furtherincludes means for altering the distribution area of the location-basedinformation in the information source and distribution condition listdepending upon the data size of the location-based information,verifying, for each information source, the position of the mobilecommunication terminal against the altered distribution area, and thenaccessing the verified information source.

[0093] With this configuration, there is an effect that the mobilecommunication terminal may initiate access to the information sourceaccording to the data size, and therefore the correspondinglocation-based information may be presented in a timely fashion.

[0094] Still further, in the above described mobile communicationterminal according to the present invention, the processing unit furtherincludes means for altering the distribution area of the location-basedinformation in the information source and distribution condition listdepending upon a moving speed of the mobile communication terminal,verifying, for each information source, the position of the mobilecommunication terminal against the altered distribution area, and thenaccessing the verified information source.

[0095] With this configuration, there is an effect that the mobilecommunication terminal may initiate access to the information sourceaccording to the moving speed of the mobile communication terminal, andtherefore the corresponding location-based information may be presentedin a timely fashion.

[0096] Still further, the above described mobile communication terminalaccording to the present invention further includes means for definingan expanded distribution area by expanding the distribution area for thelocation-based information in the information source and distributioncondition list, and initiating access to the information source thatcorresponds to the expanded distribution area if the position of themobile communication terminal conforms to the expanded distributionarea, or presenting the location-based information of the informationsource if the present position of the mobile communication terminalconforms to the distribution position before extension.

[0097] With this configuration, there is an effect that the mobilecommunication terminal may present the location-based information in atimely manner.

[0098] Still further, the above described mobile communication terminalaccording to the present invention further includes means for allowingthe acquired location-based information to be overwritable by releasingthe acquired location-based information from a memory when the presentposition of the mobile communication terminal leaves the expandeddistribution area.

[0099] With this configuration, there is an effect that the buffermemory for storing the contents may be released and utilizedefficiently, and moreover, it is not necessary to receive the contentsrepeatedly when the mobile communication terminal enters thedistribution area twice.

[0100] Still further, in the above described mobile communicationterminal according to the present invention, the processing unit furtherincludes means for verifying, for each information source, behavior ofthe mobile communication terminal including its location against thedistribution conditions of the information source indicated in thereceived information source and distribution condition list, andaccessing the information source that conforms to the distributionconditions if the behavior conforms to the distribution conditions andthe location-based information is not stored in a memory for suchpurpose.

[0101] With this configuration, there is an effect that it is notnecessary to access the information source the location-basedinformation of which is already stored many times wastefullysuccessively.

[0102] Still further, another mobile communication terminal according tothe present invention includes an input screen for issuing a request fortransmission of a program to an application server on a network, whichprogram being executed for receiving an information source anddistribution condition list that associates a location on the network ofan information source having predetermined location-based informationwith distribution conditions that include a distribution area of thelocation-based information, verifying, for each information source,behavior including a location of the mobile communication terminalagainst the distribution conditions indicated in the receivedinformation source and distribution condition list; and means forinitiating the program after receiving the program.

[0103] With this configuration, there is an effect that an applicationprogram may be downloaded and executed at any time as needed so that thelimited memory resources in the mobile communication terminal may beused for various uses including the application programs. Also, there isan effect that the functions of the mobile communication terminal may beadded/modified arbitrarily.

[0104] Still further, in the above described location-based informationintermediation and acquisition method according to the presentinvention, the intermediation computer system transmits distributionbearing angle information that limits a moving direction of the mobilecommunication terminal as one of the distribution conditions in theinformation source and distribution condition list to the mobilecommunication terminal, and the mobile communication terminal verifiesthe moving direction of the mobile communication terminal against thedistribution bearing angle in the information source and distributioncondition list, accesses the information source that conforms to thedistribution conditions to receives the location-based information forpresentation.

[0105] With this configuration, there is an effect that it is notnecessary to access the location-based information that is not intendedfor distribution wastefully.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0106]FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a network system according to alocation-based information intermediation and acquisition method of afirst embodiment of the present invention;

[0107]FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing operations of a mobile communicationterminal, an intermediation computer system and a content server in thelocation-based information intermediation and acquisition method of thefirst embodiment of the present invention;

[0108]FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the mobile communicationterminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

[0109]FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the intermediation computersystem according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

[0110]FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of information source anddistributing conditions basic data according to the first embodiment ofthe present invention;

[0111]FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of an information sourceand distributing condition list according to the first embodiment of thepresent invention;

[0112]FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing operations of an authenticationserver according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

[0113]FIG. 8 is a diagram showing timing determination criteria whenrequesting the information source and distributing condition listcontinuously, and an operational algorithm for a radius and a centerposition of a search-target area requested at the present time accordingto the first embodiment of the present invention;

[0114]FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing operations for providing contents inthe content server according to the first embodiment of the presentinvention;

[0115]FIG. 10 is a detailed flowchart showing S52 in FIG. 2;

[0116]FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a user data fileaccording to the first embodiment of the present invention;

[0117]FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a process of a mobile communicationterminal in a location-based information intermediation and acquisitionmethod of a second embodiment of the present invention;

[0118]FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing operations of an application serverin an intermediation computer system according to the second embodimentof the present invention;

[0119]FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of dynamic search criteriaaccording to a third embodiment;

[0120]FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing operation of a mobile communicationterminal and an intermediation computer system in a location-basedinformation intermediation and acquisition method of a fifth embodimentof the present invention;

[0121]FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a billing process in alocation-based information intermediation and acquisition method of aneleventh embodiment of the present invention;

[0122]FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing a billing process in alocation-based information intermediation and acquisition method of atwelfth embodiment of the present invention;

[0123]FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing another operation of the mobilecommunication terminal in the location-based information intermediationand acquisition method of the first embodiment of the present invention;

[0124]FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an exemplary indication of aplurality of contents in the mobile communication terminal according tothe first embodiment of the present invention;

[0125]FIG. 20 is a diagram showing another exemplary indication of aplurality of contents in the mobile communication terminal according tothe first embodiment of the present invention;

[0126]FIG. 21 is a diagram of assistance in explaining a predictionvector according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

[0127]FIG. 22 is a diagram of assistance in explaining a distributionarea according to the first embodiment of the present invention; and

[0128]FIG. 23 is a diagram of assistance in explaining timing to presentthe location-based information and timing to release the acquiredlocation-based information from a memory according to the firstembodiment of the present invention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0129] (First Embodiment)

[0130] Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will bedescribed with reference to drawings.

[0131]FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a network system according to alocation-based information intermediation and acquisition method of thefirst embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showingoperations of a mobile communication terminal, an intermediationcomputer system and a content server in the location-based informationintermediation and acquisition method of the first embodiment of thepresent invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the mobilecommunication terminal according to the first embodiment of the presentinvention, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the intermediationcomputer system according to the first embodiment of the presentinvention.

[0132] In FIG. 1, there are shown a portable mobile communicationterminal 1 having position detecting means, or a navigation unit havingnetwork connecting means, an intermediation computer system 2, a packetexchange mobile communication terminal network 3 a, the Internet or anintranet 3 b, the content server 4, an application server 5, and aclient computer 6. In FIG. 3, there are shown a CPU 10, a ROM 11,positioning means 12 such as a GPS receiver and the like, communicatingmeans 13 comprising a data card and a packet communicating mobiletelephone, external storage means 14 such as transportable memory, a RAM15, inputting means 16 such as a key switch, a touch panel, a remotecontrol unit, a microphone, a voice recognition unit and the like, andpresenting means 17 comprising a display unit, a beeper, an amplifier, aloudspeaker, a lamp, a vibrator, a control unit and the like. In FIG. 4,there are shown a mail server 20 (for the intranet), a client computer21, a web server 22 (for the intranet), a database management server 23,an application server 24, an authentication server 25, an informationsource and distributing condition list server 26, a mail server 27, aweb server 28, a firewall 29 (a proxy server), routers 30 and 36,networks 31, 32, 33 and 35, and a billing server 34.

[0133] Here, it is to be noted that elements shown in dotted boxes arenot necessarily needed in the first embodiment. Also, it is to be notedthat the content server 4 may be included in the intermediationcomputer, as shown by a dotted line in FIG. 2.

[0134] In the network system shown in FIG. 1, when the intermediationcomputer system 2 receives any request from any client, that is to say,any mobile communication terminal 1, or any client computer 6 on theInternet/intranet, it proceeds, as shown in FIG. 2, from a requestwaiting state Step 30 (S30) to a request decoding step S31, and then,depending upon a request decoding result, executes S32 for a menu screenrequest, S33 for a password screen request, S34 for a userauthentication request, or S35 for a static search criteria (unchangingsearch criteria) registration request. More specifically, in S32, themenu screen is sent to the requesting party (that is the mobilecommunication terminal in this example), and in S33, an input screen fora user ID and a password is sent to the requesting party. In S34, theuser ID and the password is verified against a user data file, and ifmatched, the user is authenticated and then a session ID is registeredin the session ID data file and a static search criteria setting screenis sent (issued) with the session ID to the requesting party. In S35,the request is checked whether it is authorized or not by referring thesession ID data file and simultaneously the static search criteria areregistered in a static search criteria part in the user data file, and aresponse indicating that the static search criteria has been registeredis sent to the requesting party.

[0135] In FIG. 2, a specific mobile communication terminal 1 logs in toa network in S1. More specifically, for example, an action such asdialup connection and password sending to the packet exchange mobilecommunication terminal network 3 a is executed to ensure connection to awireless line or a higher protocol network.

[0136] In S2, via the network, a URL (a residing location) of a specificintermediation computer system 2 is specified and the menu screen isrequested from a screen data (web) server 28 of the intermediationcomputer system 2 to receive and display the menu screen in an HTMLformat. When the user selects any other service in such menu via aninputting means 16, a process for the other service S3 is executed. Whenany service item pertinent to the present invention is selected, theinput screen for the user ID and the password is requested to theintermediation computer system 2 in S10 and the input screen for theuser ID and the password is received.

[0137] In S11, the user ID and the password that have been registered inthe user data file of the intermediation computer system 2 in advancefor such service are sent to the intermediation computer system 2.

[0138] In the screen data server 28 of the intermediation computersystem, as described above, in S34, the request is checked(authenticated) whether it comes from an authorized mobile communicationterminal (a user) by comparing its user ID and password with ones in theuser data file, and if authenticated, the session ID is issued andregistered in the session ID data file, and on the other hand, anotification of registration completion (service provision permission)is sent to the requesting party. Also, a static search criteria settingscreen is sent (issued) to the requesting party with the session ID.

[0139] In S12, static search criteria such as a type (a category) oflocation-based information that is desired to acquire in the staticsearch criteria selecting screen sent by the intermediation computersystem 2 are configured by the user and sent to the screen data server28 of the intermediation computer system 2.

[0140] In the intermediation computer system 2, as described above, inS35, the session ID is authenticated and the static search criteriaconfigured by the user is registered in the static search criteria partin the user data file. Further, the dynamic search criteria (changingsearch criteria) setting screen is sent to the requesting party.

[0141] In S13, the latest position of the mobile communication terminalis detected.

[0142] In S14, it is checked whether it is a first-time request for thedynamic search criteria after startup, or it is a request on and afterthe second time and outside the range specified by the previousrequested search criteria. If it is a first-time request or a requestoutside the range of the previous requested search criteria, new dynamicsearch criteria are set and sent to the information source anddistributing condition list server 26 of the intermediation computersystem 2 in S15. If it is the first-time request after startup, certainfixed search criteria, or search criteria specified at the lasttermination (stored in a flash memory, not shown) is set, and if it isthe request on and after the second time, search criteria determineddepending upon the search result on the last or previous time(s) are set(that will be described in detail later). In either case, the session IDis sent simultaneously.

[0143] When the information source and distributing condition listserver 26 of the intermediation computer system 2 receives the servicerequest, it proceeds from a request waiting state (S50) to S51 whereinthe request is checked (authenticated) whether it comes from theauthorized user or not. If authenticated, in S52, the information sourceand distributing condition list is created and sent to the mobilecommunication terminal. The information source and distributingcondition list relates to information sources having location-basedinformation that satisfies both the static and dynamic search criteriaand lists a series of distribution area information that indicates wherethe location-based information is distributed or consulted, for example,a distribution center position (coordinates or latitude and longitude)and a distribution radius, distribution true bearing angle informationthat indicates in which moving direction the distribution to the mobilecommunication terminal is effective, and the like, which is associatedwith residing locations of the information sources on the network. Theinformation source and distributing condition list is created from theinformation source and distributing conditions basic data file bypreliminarily editing information source and distributing conditionsbasic data based upon location-based information (contents) possessed bythe content server 4 according to its category and so on in a basic datacreating system in the content server 4 on the network (S90), and thenuploading the information source and distributing conditions basic datato the information source and distributing conditions basic data file ofthe intermediation computer system 2 (S91) and selecting or retrievingspecific information source and distributing conditions basic datasatisfying the search criteria in the information source anddistributing conditions basic data file (the retrieving and creatingprocedure will be described later in detail). The information source anddistributing conditions basic data file is data that associates eachinformation source with its residing location on the network anddistributing conditions, an example of which is shown in FIG. 5.Further, an example of a resulting information source and distributingcondition list is shown in FIG. 6. When such information source anddistributing condition list is transmitted in S52, it is typicallyencoded to a XML format. Alternatively, it may be encoded to any formatincluding an extendible tag format, such as an HTML format and a CHTMLformat.

[0144] Here, the user authentication by the session ID in S51 isperformed in S35 for the intermediation computer system by sending anauthentication request to the authentication server 25 of theintermediation computer system 2. In this case, in the authenticationserver 25, for example, a process as shown in a flowchart of FIG. 7 isperformed.

[0145] Further, when the information source and distributing conditionlist server and the application server are disposed in a locationdifferent from the server comprising the user data file and the sessionID data file in a distributed manner, in other words, when these serversare managed/provided by other providers, or when access to these serversis charged and the like, the user authentication by the session ID maybe also utilized to check the user's authority. As such, it is to beunderstood that there is no need to dispose each server in theintermediation computer system centrally, but it may be disposed in adistributed manner.

[0146] Here, a case wherein search conditions on and after the secondtime are set in S14 and S15 will be described with reference to FIG. 8.In FIG. 8, assume that a search-target area is specified as the dynamicsearch conditions, and more specifically, such search-target area isspecified by a circular search area defined by a search center positionand a search radius.

[0147] Determination in S14 (determination whether it is beyond thesearch conditions specified at the previous time or not) is shown in the“Determination criteria for requesting timing at present time” box inFIG. 8. More specifically, if the distance ΔX₁ between the presentposition of the mobile communication terminal and the search centerposition specified as the search conditions at the previous time (shownas the search center position requested at the previous time), and thedistance ΔX₂ defined similarly at the second previous time are bothbeyond the search radius (shown as the requested search radius)specified together with the search center position multiplied by k (forexample, k=0.8), the request is determined to be out of the searchconditions and the process proceeds to S15, where new search conditionsare transmitted. The new search conditions specify a new search-targetarea that is an area where the mobile communication terminal shouldreach by moving a predetermined distance according to the moving historyof the mobile communication terminal. When the search-target area isspecified by the search center position, the specific search centerposition included in the new dynamic search conditions set in S15 isshown in the “Search position requested at present time” box in FIG. 8and the radius of the search-target circle is shown in the “Searchradius R_(i) requested at present time” box in FIG. 8. Morespecifically, assuming that the mobile communication terminal reachesthe present position that is beyond the range within the distanceR_(i−1) multiplied by k from the point requested at the previous time, aposition that may be reached by advancing by Ri in the same direction isdefined as the search center position requested at the present time. Onthe other hand, the search radius R_(i) requested at the present timemay be defined differently depending upon the number of the informationsources N in the information source and distribution condition list thathas been received on or before the previous time; for example, if N issmaller than 2, the search radius R_(i) requested at the present timeshould be twice as large as the search radius R_(i−1) requested at theprevious time; if N is larger than a predetermined maximum valueN_(max), R_(i) should be half the search radius R_(i−1) requested at theprevious time; and if N is a value between 2 and N_(max), R_(i) shouldbe same as the search radius R_(i−1) requested at the previous time.

[0148] Here, it is to be noted that an expression for the distancebetween the present position of the mobile communication terminal andthe center position of the search range requested at the previous timeis shown in the leftmost column in FIG. 8, and symbols representing thesearch range at the previous and second previous times and the presentposition are specified in the tables at the lower-left side in FIG. 8.

[0149] Further, though it is assumed here that the next search isautomatically requested on the basis of the previous search range beforethe mobile communication terminal leaves the search-target areaspecified at the previous time, the search may be alternativelyrequested by specifying the search center position manuallyunconditionally.

[0150] Next, in S16, an information source and distribution conditionlist (hereinafter referred to as a “list” except specific cases)corresponding to the search conditions newly input in S15 is receivedand stored in the memory.

[0151] In S17, it is checked whether or not the mobile communicationterminal lies within the distribution conditions. More specifically, itis checked whether the mobile communication terminal is situated withinthe distribution area specified by the distribution conditions in thestored list, and whether the moving direction of the mobilecommunication terminal (calculated from positional transition, forexample) is substantially equal (a difference is within ±30 degrees, forexample) to the distribution direction specified in the distributionconditions (the true bearing angle that indicates which direction theinformation source is effective for mobile communication terminals, forexample). Here, it is to be noted that the distribution bearing anglemay be preset and may not be checked when the mobile communicationterminal moves slowly such as in walking. Alternatively, it is possiblethat the distribution bearing angle is not checked unconditionally.

[0152] It is useful to check the moving direction and the distributionbearing angle as described above, for example, when the mobilecommunication terminal is moving on a road having a median strip whereit is useless or even hazardous to provide the location-basedinformation about the opposite lane, and so on. In this case, suchchecking may be utilized so that, for example, the moving directioncheck becomes effective synchronously when the moving speed of themobile communication terminal exceeds a predetermined average speed, orin a preliminary setting of the static search conditions, the user maybe registered not as a pedestrian but as in a vehicle, wherein theinformation about the opposite lane is not provided. Further, the movingdirection check may be also applied to the case when the informationthat is senseless or even hazardous for the vehicle moving in theopposite direction, such as signposting. Still further, the movingdirection check may be useful for providing location-based informationdifferent from one for the opposite lane only when the user passes aspecific position on a specific road.

[0153] If the position of the mobile communication terminal lies withinthe distribution conditions in S17, the mobile communication terminalascertains that the location (typically the URL) of the informationsource on the network corresponding to the distribution conditions isnot identical to the previous URL, and then receives the location-basedinformation in the above specific information source that resides in thespecific content server 2 on the network by designating the URL by meansof a browser and the like. More specifically, in response to the contentrequest from the mobile communication terminal, the specific contentserver 2 on the network decodes the request and authenticates thesession ID in S41. In S42, the content server 2 transmits thelocation-based information in the specific information source possessedby itself. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a process of contentdistributing services in the content server 4 including a step ofrequesting the authentication of the session ID to the authenticationserver.

[0154] In S19, the location-based information is reproduced andpresented by using an application corresponding to a file type used bythe received location-based information either directly or indirectly,such as, for example, a web browser for an HTML file, a content playerfor a VRML file, and a content viewer for an MPEG file.

[0155] Here, if the mobile communication terminal is a navigation unittype, a display is switched partially or completely from the navigationmap screen that has been shown till then to the location-basedinformation screen. On the other hand, in the case of a cellular phonetype mobile communication terminal, a ringer tone or a vibration may begenerated to notify the reception. Further, if the mobile communicationterminal does not have the suitable content player or content viewer, itaccesses a specific application server to download such application foruse.

[0156] In S20, it is checked whether the service should beterminated/continued, or the static search conditions should be altered(by the user's manipulation), and if the user wishes the termination ofthe service, the process from S11 to S21 is terminated. If the userwishes the continuance of the service, the process proceeds to S13, andif the user wishes the alteration of the search conditions, the processproceeds to S12.

[0157] An example of the search condition alteration shown in S20includes a table of contents titles and a specified categoricalhierarchy in the information source resulting from the previous search,and a table of categorical classification in the next lower hierarchy,in which the user can select a specific category by using any inputmeans, for example a voice recognition means.

[0158] In this case, if the static search conditions are altered tolimit the number of the information source in S20, it may be preferableto expand the search range to compensate for such limitation.

[0159] If it is determined that the mobile communication terminal issituated beyond the distribution conditions in the S17, the processproceeds to S22, wherein the information source corresponding to suchdistribution conditions is not accessed. On the other hand, if thelocation-based information of the corresponding information source hasbeen already accessed and the location-based information is presented,it is determined that the mobile communication terminal has alreadypassed the distribution area, and therefore the presentation of thelocation-based information is terminated and any screen is displayedinstead of such location-based information. For example, if the mobilecommunication terminal is mainly intended for navigation, a screen for anavigational map is presented. In the case of the voice-announcing typemobile communication terminal, background music is played, for example.In such case, suitable data files are loaded into the memory, andcorresponding data reproduction programs such as a player and viewer areexecuted. Till the next location-based information is received, a modethat reserves the previous screen may be alternatively selected.

[0160] Here, if the mobile communication terminal lies in a plurality ofdistribution conditions in S17, the information source corresponding toeither distribution conditions where the mobile communication terminalentered first or checked first may be typically accessed and presentedfirst. Then, after a predetermined time period has passed, the nextinformation source may be accessed, and succeeding information sourcesmay be similarly accessed and presented one after another. In such case,there is a possibility that the presented contents may be changed to thenext contents though the user still cannot grasp the contentssufficiently, links to each of the presented contents may be stored solong as the image storing memory can afford to store them so that theuser can go back to ascertain the presented contents. Then, the user canreturn to any previous step by manipulating the return button on the webbrowser, for example, to ascertain the contents of the location-basedinformation.

[0161] As an alternative, when the mobile communication terminal lies ina plurality of the distribution conditions in S17, a title list of thelocation-based information in the plurality of the information sourcesmay be displayed. The user may select any title in the displayed titlelist to access the corresponding information source and then thelocation-based information may be displayed. In such case, the titlecorresponding to each information source may be added to the contents ofthe information source and distribution condition list.

[0162] As another alternative, when the mobile communication terminallies in a plurality of the distribution conditions in S17, according toa process flowchart as shown in FIG. 18, for example, the plurality ofthe information sources may be accessed simultaneously in parallel, orthe display screen may be rearranged according to the number of accessso that the plurality of the location-based information from theplurality of the information sources can be readily seen. That is tosay, the plurality of the location-based information of the plurality ofthe information sources may be displayed on a plurality of the screensseparately, and at the same time, the plurality of the screens may bedisplayed to be viewed together at a time. In each process step shown inFIG. 18, S21 a, S1000, S13 a, S22 a, S2000 and S3000 shown in bold boxesare mainly different from the process described with reference to FIG.2. More specifically, these process steps in FIG. 18 differ from thosein FIG. 2 mainly in that: a verification engine part that is a programto verify the behavior of the mobile communication terminal against thedistribution conditions of the information source and distributioncondition list is separated as an independent program; the program isinitiated in S1000; when the information sources to be accessed appearone after another, the verification engine activates access tasksconsecutively for each information source in S2000; the verificationengine controls a size, a displayed position, an overlay and so on ofthe screens for the location-based information received in each of theactivated access task in S2000; and the like.

[0163] Here, a process shown in FIG. 18 will be described focusing onthe steps shown in bold boxes. When the information source anddistribution condition list is received and stored in S16, theverification engine is activated if it has not been activated in S2000.

[0164] The verification engine detects behavior of the terminal such asa position, a bearing angle and the like (S13 a), and verifies thebehavior against each distribution condition in the information sourceand distribution condition list (S17). If the behavior matches up withthe distribution conditions, the process of S2000 is executed.

[0165] In S2000, if the information source that corresponds to thedistribution conditions has not been accessed, the information source isadded to a task management table correspondingly. An information sourceaccess task (typically a browser) is activated wherein the browser isconfigured to display screens of a predetermined size in a predeterminedposition according to the number of tasks in the task management table.Then, the screen size and arrangement of the activated browser isreconfigured.

[0166] When the behavior does not match up with the distributionconditions in S17, if the corresponding access task (the browser) isactive, the task is terminated. If active tasks remain, they arerearranged according to a predetermined rule. FIG. 19 and FIG. 20 showan example of the rule to determine the relationship between the numberof images and the rearrangement pattern. FIG. 19A and FIG. 20A each showan example for one screen, FIG. 19B and FIG. 20B each show an examplefor two screens, and FIG. 19C and FIG. 20C each show an example forthree screens.

[0167] If each information source to be presented is different from theone presented previously, the information source access task (thebrowser) accesses the information source to receive the location-basedinformation (S18) and further activates the viewer or the player todisplay the received screen in the position specified by theverification engine as needed (S19). In S3000, after the screen isdisplayed, the process is terminated in response to the terminationcontrol S22 a from the verification engine.

[0168] Here, it is to be noted that a plurality of the informationaccess tasks (the browsers) may be activated when a plurality ofinformation sources should be accessed simultaneously in parallel.

[0169] Further, in FIG. 18, a session termination request is issued tothe server and the verification engine as well as the access task isterminated.

[0170] As an alternative, though an example to start/terminate thebrowser in S2000 is shown in this example, it is to be noted that aplurality of the browsers may be activated in advance so that propertiessuch as a display screen size, arrangement and visible/invisible foreach browser may be altered as described above.

[0171] As another alternative, when displaying the screen, all titlesincluded in the list may be displayed as shown in FIGS. 19A to 19C andFIGS. 20A to 20C. At this time, if a distribution position of theinformation source corresponding to the selected title does not coincidewith the present position of the mobile communication terminal, suchinformation may be accessed compulsorily by selecting the correspondingtitle manually.

[0172]FIG. 10 is a detailed flowchart of S52 shown in FIG. 2. In thisfigure, a search hit number counter and the information source anddistribution condition list are cleared in S70. The first record of theinformation source and distribution conditions basic data file isselected to be checked in S71. Then, it is checked whether the staticsearch conditions for the corresponding user in the user data file suchas, for example, the category of the search conditions the user desiresshown in FIG. 11 coincide with the contents of the first record in S72.If so, then it is checked whether the dynamic search conditions aresatisfied, more specifically, for example, whether the search rangeincludes the distribution position of the first record, or whether thesearch range overlaps with the distribution region in S73. If all theconditions are satisfied, it is determined that the search has hit, andthen the hit number counter is incremented in S74. Then, the URLs anddistribution conditions of the information source in the record that hasbeen hit are added to the information source and distribution conditionlist in S75. In S76, it is checked whether the hit number exceeds apredetermined upper limit, and if exceeds, the search is suspended andthe process proceeds to S81. If the hit number does not exceed thepredetermined upper limit in S76, it is checked whether all the recordshave been checked in S77. If not, the next record is selected to bechecked in S78, and the process is repeated from S72 in the same manner.Here, if the conditions are not satisfied in S72 and S73, the recordshould not be added to the list, and therefore the process bypasses thesteps from S74 to S76 and proceeds to S77. If the determination resultis YES in S77, it is checked whether the hit number is less than apredetermined lower limit in S79. If it is less than the lower limit,the search range is expanded by m (for example, m=2) times in S80. Then,the process from S71 is similarly executed as described above. On theother hand, if it is not less than the lower limit in S79, the processproceeds to S81, where the acquired information source and distributioncondition list is encoded and sent to the requesting party.

[0173] As described above, the intermediation computer system has aneffect that it does not have to increase a search volume that consumessearch resources and time indiscriminately by suspending the search whenthe number of the information sources searched according to the searchconditions exceeds a predetermined upper limit. On the other hand, themobile communication terminal has an effect that it does not have toreceive a large amount of information about sources that consumestelecommunication resources and costs unnecessarily.

[0174] Further, there is an effect that the appropriate number of theinformation sources can always be acquired by expanding thesearch-target area if the number of information sources that have beensearched according to the search conditions is less than the apredetermined lower limit.

[0175] Here, in S52, it is to be noted that if any plurality of theinformation sources and distribution condition lists have already beenfiled in the database of the intermediation computer system, aparticular list that meets the search conditions may be selected fromthe plurality of the lists and transmitted to the requesting party.

[0176] Still further, in S17 of FIG. 2, when it is checked whether thepresent position of the mobile communication terminal lies within thedistribution conditions of the acquired list, the predicted positionthat is predicted based upon the moving history of the mobilecommunication terminal may be used instead of its present position.Here, such predicted position will be described with reference to FIG.21. In FIG. 21, when the present position of the mobile communicationterminal is designated as A and the moving velocity vector of the mobilecommunication terminal is designated as V, and it is assumed that themobile communication terminal continues to move at a speed of V after apredetermined time of T seconds has passed, the predicted position B iscalculated by adding a predicted moving vector V·T to the presentposition A and then it is checked whether the predicted position B lieswithin the distribution conditions (the distribution area) of the list.Typically, an actual time (that corresponds to the data transfer time)before the location-based information in the content server is displayedafter it has been accessed is acquired by measurement and used as thepredetermined time T. If the mobile communication terminal has alreadycalculated the velocity vector for other purpose and holds it, it may beused here as it is. If only the present position is detected, thevelocity vector is acquired by dividing the difference distance betweenthe present position and the stored past position by the elapsed timefor such movement.

[0177] As described above, by using the predicted moving vector V·T, themobile communication terminal has an effect that the access to theinformation source may be initiated in advance in consideration of thepredicted moving vector so that the corresponding location-basedinformation may be presented with appropriate timing.

[0178] Still further, in S17 of FIG. 2, when it is checked whether thepresent position of the mobile communication terminal lies within thedistribution conditions of the acquired list, the predicted position Cthat also depends on the data size may be calculated instead of itspresent position A for optimal presentation as shown in FIG. 21. In S17,the mobile communication terminal determines a distribution area with amargin (designated as D in FIG. 21) by multiplying a listed value (forexample, a distribution radius) specified in the list (or, if it is notspecified in the list, a predetermined value) of the distribution areain the distribution conditions for each information source in the listby any or a predetermined value one by one, then checks whether eitherthe predicted position B or the present position A lies within the area.If so, the mobile communication terminal obtains size information of thecorresponding contents (the location-based information) viatelecommunication means for servers first. In this case, after themobile communication terminal ascertains that the location (typicallythe URL, in other words, a particular HTML file or an image file and soon at the content server address) is not identical to the previous URL,only header information of the contents is specified first by means of arequest line of the browser and the length of the contents in thereceived header information (that corresponds to the data size of thecontents) is checked. Then, the predicted position depending upon thecontent size C is calculated according to the data size of the contents.Next, it is checked whether the predicted position C lies within thedistribution area of the corresponding contents (that is designated as Ein FIG. 21) and if it lies within the area E, the remaining informationincluding the content data may be accessed (browsed) according to thecorresponding information about the sources in S18.

[0179] Here, it is to be noted that the predicted position C may bedetermined as follows:

[0180] First, the data transfer time T′ (in seconds) may be calculatedby the following equation, for example, and it depends on the data size,

T′=(C+D)/R

[0181] where,

[0182] C: a standard size (in bytes) of a header and so on that isindependent of contents . . . a typical value determined according tospecifications of a used protocol and the like,

[0183] D: a content data size (in bytes) . . . acquired by requestingthe information about the length of contents described above to thecontent server, or acquired by requesting the content size informationto the intermediation computer, or acquired from the information sourceand distribution condition list if the data size information is includedin the list, and

[0184] R: a data transfer speed (in bytes/second) . . . a valuepredetermined based upon statistics and the like. A GUI driver may beinstalled to set the value manually.

[0185] Next, the predicted moving vector may be calculated by thefollowing equation using T′,

S=V×T′

[0186] where,

[0187] V (=|P_(i)−P_(i−1)|/Δt): a moving velocity vector of the mobilecommunication terminal (m/sec.),

[0188] P_(i): the position of the terminal at the present time,

[0189] P_(i−1): the position of the terminal at the previous time, and

[0190] Δt: a time interval between detection times (sec.)

[0191] Further, the predicted position C (the coordinate P_(x)) may beacquired by the following equation,

P _(x) =P ₀ +S

[0192] where,

[0193] P₀: the coordinate of the present position of the mobilecommunication terminal.

[0194] Here, in the above calculation, though the predetermined value isused as the data transfer speed R as described above, the data transferspeed may be acquired by learning, for example, according to thefollowing equation using an actual value of the data transfer speed suchas for content access and the like,

R _(i) =R _(i−1)×(1−k)+r _(i) ×k

[0195] where,

[0196] R_(i): a learned value of the data transfer speed,

[0197] R_(i−1): a learned value of the data transfer speed at theprevious time,

[0198] k: a learning coefficient (o<k<1), for example, 0.03, and

[0199] r_(i): a recent detected value of the data transfer speed,wherein

[0200] r_(i)=a data size/(data transfer end time−data transfer starttime).

[0201] As described above, since the predicted position may be alteredin consideration of necessary transfer time that depends on the datasize, and the contents may be accessed according to the data size, thereis an effect that the mobile communication terminal can receivelocation-based information completely by the time when the informationshould be presented at the desired distribution area, so that thelocation-based information may be presented with appropriate timingwithout a significant delay.

[0202] Further, though the predicted vector is altered depending uponthe data size in the above example, the distribution area may be alteredaccording to the data size.

[0203] An example of such variant is described with reference to FIG.22.

[0204] The intermediation computer system comprises content sizeinformation about each information source or alternative informationsuch as, for example, range-specific codes determined for each sizerange in the information source and distribution conditions basicdatabase. In response to the list request from the terminal, it sendsthe list with the addition of the size information to the mobilecommunication terminal (S52 in FIG. 2).

[0205] In S16 of FIG. 2, the mobile communication terminal receives theinformation source and distribution condition list with the sizeinformation. Next, in S17, the distribution area is altered dependingupon the data size rather than a value specified in the list or apredetermined value, as shown in FIG. 22. For example, when the datasize is about two times larger than a predetermined reference value S,the distribution radius is defined to be twice as large as the valuespecified in the list or the predetermined value. When the data size isabout half of S, the distribution radius is defined to be half of thevalue specified in the list or the predetermined value. As shown in FIG.22, it is checked whether the velocity-dependent predicted position B orthe present position A of the terminal lies within the altereddistribution area, and if so, contents may be accessed in a way similarto the embodiment described above (S18).

[0206] Here, the value specified in the list or the predetermined valuemay be considered as the minimum or maximum value.

[0207] Further, not only the distribution area but also the predictedposition B may be altered depending upon the data size in order to usethe predicted position C described above.

[0208] As described above, since the distribution area may be altereddepending upon the data size, more specifically, the distribution areamay be expanded when the data size is large or reduced when the datasize is small, and the contents may be accessed according to the datasize, there is an effect that the mobile communication terminal canreceive location-based information completely by the time when theinformation should be presented at the distribution area so that thelocation-based information may be presented with appropriate timingwithout a significant delay.

[0209] Further, in a case where the distribution area is alteredaccording to the data size and the presentation is terminated when themovement outside the distribution area is detected, there is an effectthat the adequate presentation time may be ensured.

[0210] Still further, in a case where the content data size is expressedby codes, there is an effect that the required time for preliminarycommunication may be reduced. Here, it goes without saying that thedistribution position and the position of the terminal may be expressedby particular codes.

[0211] Still further, as another case of alteration of the distributionarea, the distribution area may be altered depending upon the movingvelocity of the mobile communication terminal. In this case, forexample, a predicted moving vector length (the absolute value of thepredicted moving vector V·T) is calculated depending upon the movingvelocity of the mobile communication terminal, then a value of thedistribution area acquired from the information source and distributioncondition list or a predetermined value of the distribution area isaltered in consideration of the predicted moving vector length, then itis checked whether the predicted position B or C, or the presentposition A lies within the range of the altered distribution area, andthen, if so, an operation of S18 is executed. Generally speaking, thelarger the predicted moving vector length becomes, the wider thedistribution area is made.

[0212] Here, it is to be noted that the above case may be used jointlywith the case where the distribution area is altered depending upon thedata size.

[0213] With this configuration, since the distribution area is expandedaccording to the speed of the mobile communication terminal, there is aneffect that the possibility to overlook the distribution area may bereduced significantly especially when the mobile communication terminalmounted on a high-speed vehicle comes along a distribution area that isa narrow region having a radius of 10 m, and that is prepared forpedestrians.

[0214] Further, in a case where the distribution area is expanded, it ispreferred to configure the timing to present the location-basedinformation and the timing to release the acquired location-basedinformation from the memory as follows. Hereinafter, the operation willbe described with reference to FIG. 23.

[0215] When the position of the mobile communication terminal (thepredicted position B or C of the mobile communication terminal, or thepresent position A of the mobile communication terminal, the predictedposition B in FIG. 23) enters a predetermined range wider than thedistribution area (an expanded distribution area), the mobilecommunication terminal accesses the corresponding information source (apoint P1). A memory space management table for the contents is thenreferenced and the received contents (the location-based information)are stored in the memory space that is “overwritable”. In the memoryspace management table, a region corresponding to the contents (forexample, a title of the contents) is then marked as “not overwritable”,which indicates that such memory region cannot be overwritten. Here, itis to be noted that the contents are not displayed at least completelysoon after the reception has finished. As described above, firstly, theaccess to the information source is initiated to acquire the contents alittle sooner than the present position or the predicted position entersthe distribution area (the diagonally shaded area).

[0216] Thereafter, when the present position of the mobile communicationterminal enters the original distribution area before expansion (thediagonally shaded area), the corresponding contents are presented (apoint P2).

[0217] Subsequently, when the present position of the mobilecommunication terminal leaves the distribution area (the diagonallyshaded area), the presentation of the contents is terminated (a pointP3).

[0218] When the mobile communication terminal moves further and thepresent position of the mobile communication terminal leaves theexpanded distribution area that is wider than the original distributionarea, the memory space where the corresponding contents are stored isreleased and the “not overwritable” flag is changed to the“overwritable” flag. This flag is utilized as information to indicateavailable memory space when the contents are received newly (a pointP4). Here, the expanded distribution area delimited by the point P4 maybe either the same as the expanded distribution area to determine thestart of access at the point P1, or may be another expanded distributionarea.

[0219] Furthermore, an expansion rate of the expanded distribution areamay be altered according to the data size and the speed of the mobilecommunication terminal described above: more specifically, thedistribution area may be expanded by the distance calculated one by oneusing the moving velocity of the mobile communication terminal and thetime required to receive not less than 95% of the content data, forexample, which is calculated based upon the actual statistical value ofthe data transfer time. Alternatively, the expanded distribution areamay be defined by expanding the original distribution area at apredetermined rate, for example, by three times.

[0220] As described above, there is an effect that the contents may bepresented with appropriate timing, since the access to thelocation-based information is initiated when the present position or thepredicted position enters the expanded distribution area, and after thecontents have been received, the received contents are presented onlywhen the present position enters the original distribution area that isnot expanded. Moreover, there is an effect that the contents may bepresented in the distribution area properly and more sophisticatedpresentation of the contents may be realized even when the contents of alarge size are received with a typically available data transfer rate.Furthermore, there is an effect that the problem wherein the base screenis concealed by the received contents before the present position entersthe distribution position may be avoided. Also, the substantialdistribution area to present the contents may be kept sufficiently smallin order to reduce the possibility that the contents are presentedsimultaneously with other contents.

[0221] Further, by utilizing such system, there is an effect that thecontents may be presented on the terminal without delay when thecontents having information to control passage/stop are provided fromthe server so that the terminal may be instructed to stop in apredetermined range immediately before entering the gate of apredetermined area if the terminal that would pass the predeterminedarea has not been authenticated through a communicating procedureperformed separately, for example.

[0222] Still further, since the memory may be released only when theterminal leaves the expanded distribution area, there is an effect thatthe buffer memory for content memory may be released and utilizedefficiently and moreover, it is no need to receive the contents againwhen the terminal enters the distribution area a second time. Morespecifically, though the prior art system that is configured to receiveand store all contents in advance must reserve an enormous amount ofmemory resources to store the contents and also receive an enormousamount of contents all of which may never be utilized in advance, theembodiment described here has an effect that it can present the contentsof the information source with less memory resources, without delay andfor a sufficiently small distribution area. Further, there is an effectconsequently that redundant and enormous contents do not have to bereceived uselessly when the user of the mobile communication terminalchanges the course or the region to which the user has planned to moveat the beginning of the movement, and the like.

[0223] Here, though there is a possibility that a multiplicity ofinformation sources may be accessed when the distribution area isexpanded, in such case, when one information source must be accessedwhile another information source is accessed, both the informationsources may be accessed concurrently at least virtually at least tillthe reception is completed. In this case, packet communication meansplays an important role though it is not described in detail here.

[0224] When multiple information sources may be accessed, icons withtitles of contents or browser windows with a reduced size which aresmaller than regular content presentation windows may be displayed foreach accessed information source side by side successively to indicatewhether the reception is “in process”/“completed” etc. It allows theuser to grasp receiving conditions or to manipulate the icons of thereceived contents selectively, therefore there is an effect that thecontents can be presented either before reaching the distribution areaor after passing it till the content memory is overwritten.

[0225] Further, small icons with titles of contents of the informationsource to be accessed may be displayed in an overlap manner(superimposed) at a place on a navigation map display screencorresponding to the distribution area of above information source,wherein there is an effect that the user can readily grasp the receivingconditions and recognize at which position the distribution area islocated. Further, by displaying through the small icons or the browserwindows with a reduced size, there is an effect that wider displayingrange of the base screen is reserved.

[0226] As described above, according to the location-based informationintermediation and acquisition method of the first embodiment, there isan effect that any of the contents provided by every content server onthe network may be utilized as the location-based information and, atthe same time, the mobile communication terminal can obtain suchlocation-based information automatically by synchronizing with itsmovement. Further, there is an effect that every content provider on thenetwork such as the Internet can deliver the location-based information.Still further, there is an effect that the mobile communication terminalcan acquire a series of the location-based information and receive thepresentation one and after automatically just at the relevant positionby synchronizing with behavior of such mobile communication terminal.

[0227] Moreover, since selection, retrieval and creation of theinformation source that would be needed in the future is made by theintermediation computer system in advance, there is an effect that themobile communication terminal can acquire the information source anddistribution condition list about the necessary information sources inadvance, therefore the information sources may be accessed withoutdelay.

[0228] (Second Embodiment)

[0229]FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing operations of the mobilecommunication terminal in the location-based information intermediationand acquisition method of a second embodiment of the present invention.

[0230] This operation differs from the operation of the mobilecommunication terminal in FIG. 2 only in that step S4 is added, and adownloaded program halts (ends) when a process of S21 is terminated.Other steps are the same as those described in FIG. 2, and thereforeonly step S4 is described here.

[0231] In the second embodiment, application programs from S10 to S22are requested to the application server of the intermediation computersystem, downloaded and then activated in S4. Here, before downloading,it is checked whether the programs are already possessed and thesufficient memory space is reserved to store and execute the downloadedprograms.

[0232]FIG. 13 shows an operation of the application server 24 in theintermediation computer system. The application server 24 is typicallyin a request waiting state S60, and when requested from the client, itdecodes the request (S61) and transmits applications to the requestingparty according to the request (S62). If the requesting party isauthenticated (not shown), the user is identified using the session IDas shown in the first embodiment.

[0233] As described above, there is an effect that limited memoryresources of the mobile communication terminal may be used for variouspurposes including application programs in particular since necessaryapplication programs may be downloaded and activated on each occasion.Also, there is an effect that functions of the mobile communicationterminal may be added/modified arbitrarily.

[0234] Here, in FIG. 12, if the mobile communication terminal does nothave a program for reproducing a data file included in location-basedinformation received from the content server when the mobilecommunication terminal makes use of such service, the mobilecommunication terminal may similarly request the application server 24to send such program, receive and then activate the program.

[0235] With this configuration, by downloading and activating necessaryprograms on each occasion, there is an effect that limited memoryresources of the mobile communication terminal may be used for variouspurposes including the data reproduction program. Also, there is aneffect that functions of the mobile communication terminal may beadded/modified arbitrarily. For example, there is an effect that sounddata files may be reproduced by a content player, and image data filesmay be reproduced by a content viewer.

[0236] (Third Embodiment)

[0237] In a third embodiment, various types of dynamic search conditionsare explained. The dynamic search conditions include the followingtypes:

[0238] (1) Conditions that include at least a search center position ora search representative position. As a specific example, the positionrefers to the latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates in Japanesegeodetic system or the latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates in otherspecified geodetic system and the like. In some applications, thedynamic search conditions may be three-dimensional with the addition ofaltitude. In this case, there is an effect that a problem whereinlocation-based information for the ground level is presented on themobile communication terminal situated on an elevated expressway may beavoided, for example;

[0239] (2) Conditions that include a range of a circle, a rectangle andthe like that is expressed by a distance or an (latitudinal andlongitudinal) angle relative to a search center position or a searchrepresentative position; and

[0240] (3) Conditions that include a moving direction. Such conditionsare not used in most applications. Typically, the mobile communicationterminal does not send the moving direction as one of the searchconditions to the intermediation computer system and the movingdirection is checked against the distribution conditions in the mobilecommunication terminal. However, such search conditions may be appliedin some applications so that the moving direction of the mobilecommunication terminal is sent as one of the dynamic search conditionsto the intermediation computer system where, in turn, a list of itemsthat are checked against the moving direction is created and sent to themobile communication terminal. By doing this, there is an effect that aninformation source and distribution condition list that is comprised ofminimum data from which the data concerning irrelevant directions isfiltered out may be acquired.

[0241]FIGS. 14A to 14C show examples of the three types of the dynamicsearch conditions, respectively. When the search conditions are sentfrom the mobile communication terminal to the intermediation computersystem, FIG. 14A shows an example wherein a circular search range, amoving direction of the mobile communication terminal and a contentscategory are defined as the dynamic search conditions. FIG. 14(b) showsan example wherein a search range having a specified search centerposition and a content category are defined as the dynamic searchconditions, and FIG. 14(c) shows an example wherein a circular searchrange and a moving direction of the mobile communication terminal aredefined as the dynamic search conditions.

[0242] Fourth Embodiment

[0243] In a fourth embodiment, various types of static search conditionsare explained. Examples of the static search conditions include:conditions concerning a particular searched area (for example, an areaaround the present position of the mobile communication terminal, or anyregion that is, for example, specified by a place name, and the like),conditions concerning attributes of the searched items (for example, acategory, a destination, a distribution time period, and the like),condition concerning attributes of the searching party (for example,target age range, target gender, types of the searching party such as avehicle (a navigation unit) or a pedestrian, a category of business, andthe like). There may be a case wherein all conditions are included. Inthe case of the static search conditions concerning a particularsearched area, when the position of the mobile communication terminalconforms to the distribution area specified for the information source,the information source may be accessed automatically so that itslocation-based information may be presented automatically. As for thedestination, information such as a map or voice guidance to show the waythat corresponds to the destination is prepared in a given contentserver, wherein the positions forward major crossovers are defined asthe distribution center positions so that the information may bepresented when the mobile communication terminal comes along suchcrossovers. Moreover, in the case of a category such as a traintimetable, when the mobile communication terminal approaches a station,the time for departure of the several trains after the present time thatare bound for the destination may be presented in combination with areception notification signal. As for the distribution time period, itmay be used such that, for example, bargain sale information and parkingzone information may be presented only during business hours of aparticular shop. As for the attributes of the searching party such asthe target age range and the like, it functions such that only theinformation having the contents suitable for the particular searchingparty may be provided.

[0244] Here, it is to be noted that a step of transmitting the staticsearch conditions in S12 and a step of receiving and registering suchconditions in S35 may be omitted and a portion or all of the staticsearch conditions may be specified as the dynamic search conditions.

[0245] (Fifth Embodiment)

[0246]FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing operations of a mobilecommunication terminal and an intermediation computer system in alocation-based information intermediation and acquisition method of afifth embodiment of the present invention.

[0247] The intermediation computer system in FIG. 15 operates somewhatdifferently from that described in FIG. 2. A request is issued by anelectronic mail in S31 and as a result of decoding the text of thereceived mail, it is checked in S36 whether or not the client that hasissued the mail is registered as a subscriber of the service withreference to a client data file that corresponds to the user data filein the preceding embodiments. Once the client is authenticated,according to the particular search conditions specified by the client inthe mail text, the intermediation computer system selects, retrieves orcreates an information source and distribution condition list, and thensends the list to a particular mobile communication terminal specifiedin the mail text as an attachment of a mail in S52.

[0248] On the other hand, as for the mobile communication terminal, theoperations executed in steps S1 to S3, S13, S17 to S20, and S22 are thesame as those in FIG. 2, respectively, the description of which isomitted. Here, however, S2 shows a state wherein menu selection iswaited for after a menu screen has been request and received, or a statewherein the service for receiving the electronic mail and using serviceintermediation is selected from the menu. Once the mail is received, themail text is decoded and displayed in S5 and at the same time the userof the mobile communication terminal is asked whether the user wishesthe reception of the information source and distribution condition listby such mail, and then if the user refuses the start of the service, theprocess returns to S2. If the user selects to start the service, inS100, the information source and distribution condition list attached tothe mail is transferred to the memory that is used in the operationsfrom S13 to S22. The operations executed from S13 to S22 are similar tothose described in FIG. 2, respectively.

[0249] With this configuration, in the intermediation computer system,there is an effect that a content server on a network can provide aparticular mobile communication terminal with location-based informationin response to a request from any client on the network and at the sametime, the particular mobile communication terminal can automaticallyacquire the location-based information as required.

[0250] Here, it is to be noted that the fifth embodiment shown in FIG.15 may be alternatively configured such that the program for theoperation from S13 to S22 may be delivered as an attachment of the mailfrom the intermediation computer system, and then it may be activated inS100 to execute provision of the location-based information.

[0251] (Sixth Embodiment)

[0252] In a location-based information intermediation and acquisitionmethod according to a sixth embodiment, when the mobile communicationterminal is a navigation unit that is connected to the Internet via awireless telecommunication network, the mobile communication terminal isconfigured to set the destination and according to route informationthat is retrieved on a map based on a map database installed therein,define points along the route as a search center position, also define aportion or all of surrounding region up to the destination as a searchregion, thereby a search-target area being set, and then issue a searchrequest to the intermediation computer system. According to suchconfiguration, there is an effect that the information source anddistribution condition list may be acquired for a more proper range andconsequently the number of issue of the search request may be reduced.

[0253] Further, also when the mobile communication terminal is anavigation unit that is connected to the Internet via a wirelesstelecommunication network, the mobile communication terminal may beconfigured to specify the retrieved route information as the searchconditions and request the intermediation computer system to provideintermediation support, and the intermediation computer system isconfigured, in turn, to create the information source and distributioncondition list corresponding to the above search conditions and transmitit to the mobile communication terminal. According to suchconfiguration, there is an effect that the information source anddistribution condition list for a wider range as far as the vicinity ofthe destination may be acquired in advance. Further, there is an effectthat the information source and distribution condition list may beacquired for a more proper range and consequently the number of issue ofthe search request may be reduced.

[0254] Alternatively, when the mobile communication terminal is not anavigation unit but the intermediation computer system comprises anavigation function, the mobile communication terminal may be configuredto send its own present position and destination to the intermediationcomputer system as the search conditions, and the intermediationcomputer system is configured, in turn, to search the route from thepresent position to the destination, create the information source anddistribution condition list corresponding to the route according to theretrieved route information and send it to the mobile communicationterminal. According to such configuration, there is also an effect thatthe information source and distribution condition list may be acquiredfor a wide range as far as the destination in advance. Further, there isan effect that the information source and distribution condition listfor a more appropriate range may be acquired, though the less number ofparameters are requested from the mobile communication terminal.

[0255] (Seventh Embodiment)

[0256] In a location-based information intermediation and acquisitionmethod according to a seventh embodiment, the mobile communicationterminal specifies representative point information (for example, asearch center position) indicating a search area requested at thepresent time and the representative point information indicating thesearch area requested at the previous time as the search conditions andnotifies the intermediation computer system of the search conditions(and request the intermediation computer system to search the area), andthe intermediation computer system, in turn, transmits the informationsource and distribution condition list created by excluding the searchresult based upon the previous search conditions from the search resultbased upon the present search conditions to the corresponding mobilecommunication terminal. More specifically, in the whole area defined bythe representative point information, the information sources the centerposition of which is located within the range defined by subtracting therange indicated by the previous representative point from the rangeindicated by the present representative point may be transmitted to therequesting party, and, on the other hand, the information sources thecenter position of which is located within the range indicated by boththe previous representative point and the present representative pointin an overlapping manner may not be transmitted.

[0257] According to such configuration, there is an effect that themobile communication terminal does not have to receive the informationsources that are included in the previously specified search area again.Further, there is an effect that an amount of data transferred via thenetwork may not increase unnecessarily.

[0258] (Eighth Embodiment)

[0259] In a step of transmitting the information source and distributioncondition list from the intermediation computer system, when characters,figures or symbols that are representative of an information source ordistribution conditions have a shared portion with regard to either theinformation source or the distribution conditions, which shared portionmay be expressed collectively and independently of unshared portion andonly the unshared portion may be transmitted correspondingly in aseparate manner. According to such configuration, there is an effectthat the shared portion in the transmitted data may be bundled togetherirrespective of the used encoding method and consequently, an amount oftransmitted data may be reduced and transfer time and transfer costs mayalso be kept low.

[0260] For example, assuming that the information sources are defined byURLs, when two URLs such as http://www.melco.co.jp/autob/a.html andhttp://www.melco.co.jp/autob/b.html are the target information sources,the shared portion http://www.melco.co.jp/autob/ may be expressedcollectively and, in turn, the unshared portion a.html and b.html may beexpressed correspondingly to the respective distribution conditions. Asdescribed above, when there are many information sources, there is aneffect that the shared portion of the transmitted data may be reducedsignificantly. With regard to the distribution conditions, when thedistribution center point is expressed in latitudinal and longitudinalcoordinates, since the higher digits of the latitude and the longitudeare always common in the same area, chances to bundle the common portionmay be very high, and here there is also an effect that an amount oftransmitted data may be reduced. More specifically, there is an effectthat data reduction by (the number of information sources−1) times maybe accomplished.

[0261] (Ninth Embodiment)

[0262] The mobile communication terminal according to the firstembodiment is configured to check whether its own behavior conforms tothe distribution conditions for each information source shown in theinformation source and distribution condition list received from theintermediation computer system one by one, and, when it conforms, toaccess the information source corresponding to the distributionconditions unless the distribution conditions have been alreadyaccessed; however, when its behavior conforms to the distributionconditions, it may alternatively be configured to check whether thelocation-based information of the information source corresponding tothe distribution conditions is stored in the respective memory by usingan management table and the like, so that the mobile communicationterminal may access the information source only when the location-basedinformation is not stored. According to the above configuration, thereis an effect to avoid waste to access the same information source thathas already been stored in the memory again.

[0263] (Tenth Embodiment)

[0264] In a tenth embodiment, a mobile communication terminal usercreates the information source and distribution condition list inadvance by using the client computer other than the mobile communicationterminal, or such client computer is configured to acquire arbitraryinformation source and distribution condition list from theintermediation computer and the like in advance, write it to atransportable memory (a memory card) by transportable memory writingmeans, read the list written in the transportable memory by memoryreading means (not shown) on the mobile communication terminal. Afterthat, the mobile communication terminal performs the steps just as shownin FIG. 15.

[0265] With the above configuration, when the information source anddistribution condition list has a large size, there is an effect thatsuch list may be acquired using a wired link, without wasting wirelesscommunication costs. Further, there is also an effect that, suiting thepreferences of the user, a category, distribution conditions and thelike may be altered only by interchanging the transportable memory.

[0266] (Eleventh Embodiment)

[0267] The intermediation computer system may alternatively be installedin a gateway between a packet transmission mobile communication terminalnetwork and the Internet so that it can monitor an amount of transmittedpackets to perform billing operation depending upon the amount of thepackets and issue a billing report.

[0268] According to a location-based information intermediation andacquisition method of the eleventh embodiment, the billing server 34 inthe intermediation computer system is configured to bill contentproviders every time the registered mobile communication terminal (theuser) accesses predetermined registered contents or according to thenumber of access. FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing operations in theeleventh embodiment. In this case, it is to be noted that theintermediation computer system 2 including the billing server 34 isinstalled at a connection point with the mobile communication terminalnetwork 3 a. Therefore, all mobile communication terminals (for example,packet communication cellular phones+GPS receivers) can access thecontent server 4 on the Internet/the intranet 3 b through this point.

[0269] In FIG. 16, first, variables are cleared in S110. In S111, it ischecked whether or not the mobile communication terminal has accessedthe registered content servers. For example, the conformity with theregistered contents is checked by using source addresses and destinationaddresses in Internet Protocol layer, a corresponding data file of an IDnumber and an IP address of the mobile communication terminal (notshown), and the like. If the mobile communication terminal has accessedthe registered content servers, the number of access is added to a dailytotal number for each content provider (CP) in S112. In S113, it ischecked whether the time to accumulate the daily total number has come,and if the time has come, the daily total number is recorded in a chargereport file in S114. The daily total access number is then added to themonthly total access number for each content provider. In S115, it ischecked whether the time to accumulate the monthly total number hascome. In S116, a monthly total providing charge is calculated based uponthe daily access number for each content provider, and the charge reportwhere the monthly total providing charge is stated with the daily totalcharge is created and submitted to each CP, and at the same time, themonthly total providing charge is paid from the bank account or otheraccount and the monthly total is cleared.

[0270] With the above configuration, there is an effect that apredetermined charge may be billed from the content providers who expecta profit by providing mobile communication terminals in a distributionarea with contents.

[0271] (Twelfth Embodiment)

[0272]FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing a method for billing the mobilecommunication terminal depending upon the number of access wherein themobile communication terminal requests and receives the informationsource and distribution condition list in the location-based informationintermediation and acquisition method according to a twelfth embodiment.In this embodiment, the mobile communication terminal may be chargedbased upon the number of the information source and distributioncondition list received by the mobile communication terminal with theaddition of the number of access.

[0273] Though the mobile communication terminal is charged in theembodiment shown in FIG. 17, it is to be noted that the client thatutilizes the intermediation service may alternatively be charged.

[0274] With the above configuration, there is an effect that apredetermined charge may be billed from the client or the mobilecommunication terminal user that uses the location-based informationproviding service or the intermediation service to provide thelocation-based information.

[0275] (Thirteenth Embodiment)

[0276] In a thirteenth embodiment, a portion of data transfer in thedownload direction in the network is provided by Broadcast Satellite(BS) digital data broadcasting, as shown in FIG. 1. In this case, thereis an effect that the location-based information or the informationsource and distribution condition list may be provided to multiplemobile communication terminals scattering in a wide range simultaneouslyand quickly.

[0277] (Fourteenth Embodiment)

[0278] In a fourteenth embodiment, the mobile communication terminal isconfigured to comprise network connecting means by DSRC (Dedicated ShortRange Communication) and, on the other hand, a plurality of DSRCtransmitting and receiving means is implemented on the network side. Theplurality of DSRC transceivers on the network side is disposed along theroad.

[0279] Each of the DSRC transceivers on the network side communicateswith the mobile communication terminal irrespective of the physicallocation of a transmittable/receivable area for each DSRC transceiver,so that the location-based information that satisfies the distributionconditions, on the basis of the position detecting result of the mobilecommunication terminal rather than the position detecting (communicationdetecting) function of the DSRC transceiver is provided or acquired byway of the DSRC transceiver (the position detecting function of the DSRCtransceiver may also be used in combination).

[0280] With the above configuration, there is an effect that both theposition detection accuracy of the mobile communication terminal and thehigh-speed property of the DSRC communication may be utilizedefficiently to provide or acquire the location-based information.

[0281] (Fifteenth Embodiment)

[0282] In a fifteenth embodiment, the intermediation computer system isconfigured to comprise data encoding means and, on the other hand, themobile communication terminal is configured to comprise decoding meansto decode the encoded data.

[0283] In this case, there is an effect that a risk that the dataneeding secure concealment is cracked easily and used for evil purposeson the network may be reduced.

[0284] (Sixteenth Embodiment)

[0285] In a sixteenth embodiment, a code specifying a format to expressthe search conditions in themselves or the information source anddistribution condition list (for example, <H> for an HTML format and <X>for an XML format) is included in the search conditions.

[0286] In this case, there is an effect that a wide variety of methodsfor specifying the search conditions or the information source anddistribution condition list may be used.

[0287] Further, types of the search conditions (for example, the typesas shown in FIGS. 14A, 14B and 14C may also be specified in the searchconditions. In this case, the intermediation computer first checks thetype and then decodes the search conditions. By doing so, there is aneffect that a wider variety of the search conditions may beaccommodated.

[0288] (Seventeenth Embodiment)

[0289] In a seventeenth embodiment, the content server is installed noton an open site on the Internet but on an closed site such as on a LANto which the intermediation computer system belongs. In this case, thereis an effect that the authenticating step may be omitted, various filesmay be read or written directly, quality of contents may be readilymonitored, and the like.

[0290] (Eighteenth Embodiment

[0291] In each of the above described embodiments of the presentinvention, the intermediation computer system may also be configured tomonitor statistics such as an access frequency by location of mobilecommunication terminals or an access frequency to each of the contentsin order to make use of the statistics for enriching or renovating thecontents.

[0292] (Nineteenth Embodiment)

[0293] In a location-based information intermediation and acquisitionmethod according to a nineteenth embodiment, the mobile communicationterminal is combined to the motion control system of a vehicle tocontrol the motion of the vehicle based upon the location-basedinformation for controlling the vehicle. In this case, for example, aplurality of vehicles equipped with the mobile communication terminalsmay be provided with the command (the location-based information)depending upon each present position to move uniquely to each location.More specifically, it may be utilized for control of a group of vehiclesdistributed in a wide area.

[0294] For example, as an application of the location-based informationintermediation and acquisition method according to the presentinvention, for consumer use, for example, a route for avoiding a trafficjam may be specified dynamically for each location by altering contentsof the content server also dynamically depending upon commands. In ataxi application, for example, a group of taxis may be directed to aregion where a usage frequency is high.

[0295] When the mobile communication terminal is a cellular phoneequipped with the position detecting means, a task to guide auser-pedestrian to a specific place may be attained by presentinglocation-based information (a destination guide) at important points.

[0296] In the field of aircraft, when an aircraft enters a specificairspace, operational instructions may be presented for the airspace.Otherwise, precautions for the airspace may be presented. When theaircraft enters the airspace where any danger is warned, an alarm may beissued and then the aircraft may be controlled to obviate the danger.Moreover, when the aircraft reaches the airspace, the next direction maybe instructed and subsequently, flying direction may be changedsuccessively automatically.

[0297] In an agricultural field, tractors may be instructed to performappropriate driving control at each point to achieve automatic driving.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

[0298] The location-based information intermediation and acquisitionmethod according to the present invention may be applied not only toprovide desired location-based information but also to administer agroup of vehicles in a wide area, guide the vehicles on a route, controloperations of the vehicles and the like.

1. A location-based information intermediation and acquisition method inwhich an intermediation computer system on a network intermediateslocation-based information provided on said network and a mobilecommunication terminal on said network acquires the desiredlocation-based information that synchronizes with behavior of the mobilecommunication terminal in itself by means of said intermediation,comprising the steps of: in said intermediation computer system,transmitting to said mobile communication terminal over the network aninformation source and distribution condition list that associates alocation on the network of an information source having thelocation-based information that corresponds to specific searchconditions with distribution conditions that include a distribution areaof said location-based information; and in said mobile communicationterminal, verifying behavior of said mobile communication terminalagainst the distribution conditions of the information source indicatedin said received information source and distribution condition list, foreach information source, and then receiving and presenting thelocation-based information by accessing the verified information source.2. A location-based information intermediation method, comprising thestep of transmitting to a mobile communication terminal an informationsource and distribution condition list that associates a location on anetwork of an information source having predetermined location-basedinformation that corresponds to specific search conditions withdistribution conditions that include a distribution area of saidlocation-based information.
 3. A location-based informationintermediation method according to claim 2, further comprising the stepof creating the information source and distribution condition list thatcorresponds to the specific search conditions by searching a databasethat stores basic data that associates the location on the network ofthe information source having the location-based information with thedistribution conditions that include the distribution area of saidlocation-based information.
 4. An intermediation computer systemcomprising: a communicating unit for communicating with a terminal on anetwork; a database for storing basic data that associates a location ona network of an information source having location-based informationthat is provided on the network with distribution conditions thatinclude a distribution area of said location-based information; and aprocessing unit for performing operation to read the basic data thatcorresponds to said search conditions from said database when saidcommunicating unit receives search conditions for the location-basedinformation from said terminal, creating a information source anddistribution condition list that is comprised of the read basic data andthen transmitting the information source and distribution condition listthrough said communicating unit to a particular mobile communicationterminal.
 5. An intermediation computer system comprising: acommunicating unit for communicating with a terminal on a network; adatabase for storing an information source and distribution conditionlist that associates a location on the network of an information sourcehaving predetermined location-based information that is provided on thenetwork with distribution conditions that include a distribution area ofsaid location-based information; and a processing unit for performing anoperation to read the information source and distribution condition listthat corresponds to said search conditions from said database when saidcommunicating unit receives search conditions for the location-basedinformation from said terminal and to transmit said read informationsource and distribution condition list through said communicating unitto a particular mobile communication terminal.
 6. A location-basedinformation acquisition method, comprising the steps of: receiving fromoutside an information source and distribution condition list thatassociates a location on a network of an information source havingpredetermined location-based information with distribution conditionsthat include a distribution area of said location-based information; andverifying, for each information source, behavior of a mobilecommunication terminal including a location thereof against thedistribution conditions of the information source indicated in saidreceived information source and distribution condition list, and thenreceiving and presenting the location-based information by accessing theverified information source.
 7. A location-based information acquisitionmethod, comprising the steps of: requesting an intermediation computersystem to provide intermediation support in connection withpredetermined location-based information while attaching searchconditions for the location-based information provided on a network;receiving an information source and distribution condition list thatassociates a location on a network of an information source having saidpredetermined location-based information with distribution conditionsthat include a distribution area of said location-based information fromsaid intermediation computer system via the network; and verifying, foreach information source, behavior of a mobile communication terminalincluding a location thereof against the distribution conditions of theinformation source indicated in said received information source anddistribution condition list, and then receiving and presenting thelocation-based information by accessing the verified information source.8. A location-based information acquisition method according to claim 7,wherein the search conditions are updated automatically as the mobilecommunication terminal moves.
 9. A location-based informationacquisition method according to claim 7, further comprising the step ofpresenting a screen for inputting the search conditions, wherein thesearch conditions are specified through said inputting screen to requestprovision of intermediation support.
 10. A location-based informationacquisition method according to any of claims 6 to 9, wherein, when thebehavior of the mobile communication terminal including a locationthereof is verified against the distribution conditions indicated in theinformation source and distribution condition list for each informationsource, if a plurality of information sources that conforms to oneanother is found, the location-based information of said plurality ofinformation sources is displayed on a plurality of screens, and at thesame time, said plurality of screens is displayed such that it can beviewed simultaneously.
 11. A mobile communication terminal, comprising:a communicating unit for communicating with an information source havinglocation-based information; a processing unit for verifying, for eachinformation source, behavior including a location of said mobilecommunication terminal against distribution conditions indicated in aninformation source and distribution condition list that associates alocation on a network of an information source having predeterminedlocation-based information that is input from outside with saiddistribution conditions that include a distribution area of saidlocation-based information, and for accessing the verified informationsource via said communication unit; and a presenting unit for presentingthe location-based information that is received from said informationsource.
 12. A mobile communication terminal, comprising: a communicatingunit for communicating with an intermediation computer system on anetwork and information source having location-based information; aprocessing unit for verifying, for each information source, behaviorincluding a location of said mobile communication terminal againstdistribution conditions indicated in an information source anddistribution condition list that associates a location on a network ofan information source having predetermined location-based informationthat is input via the network with said distribution conditions thatinclude a distribution area of said location-based information and foraccessing the verified information source via said communicating unit;and a presenting unit for presenting the location-based information thatis received from said information source, wherein said processing unitcomprises a means for requesting an intermediation computer system toprovide the information source and distribution condition list about thepredetermined location-based information while attaching searchconditions for the location-based information provided on the network.13. A mobile communication terminal according to claim 12, wherein themobile communication terminal updates the search conditionsautomatically and requests provision of the information source anddistribution condition list as the mobile communication terminal moves.14. A mobile communication terminal according to claim 12, whereinprovision of intermediation support is requested by specifying thesearch conditions through an input screen for inputting the searchconditions.
 15. A location-based information intermediation methodaccording to claim 2 or 3, further comprising the step of, whenreceiving a request to transmit the information source and distributioncondition list concerning predetermined location-based information to aspecified mobile communication terminal by specifying a search conditionfrom an arbitrary client computer over the network, transmitting saidinformation source and distribution condition list to said specifiedmobile communication terminal.
 16. A location-based informationintermediation method according to claim 2 or 3, further comprising thestep of transmitting to the mobile communication terminal an informationsource and distribution condition list concerning a search-target areadefined by a search center position and range information specifiedalong with said search center position or predetermined rangeinformation when the search-target area is specified as the searchcondition and said search-target area is defined at least by the searchcenter position.
 17. A location-based information intermediation methodaccording to claim 2 or 3, further comprising the step of transmittingto the mobile communication terminal an information source anddistribution condition list that is created by excluding the searchresult based upon the previous search conditions from the search resultbased upon the present search conditions when a search-target area isspecified as the search condition and another search-target area isinput successively.
 18. A location-based information intermediationmethod according to claim 3, wherein, when the information source anddistribution condition list corresponding to the search conditions issearched and created, if the number of information sources in theacquired information source and distribution condition list exceeds apredetermined upper limit, said search is terminated, and, if the numberof the information sources in the acquired information source anddistribution condition list is less than a predetermined lower limit, asearch-target area is expanded.
 19. A location-based informationintermediation method according to claim 2 or 3, further comprising thesteps of, when a present position and a destination of the mobilecommunication terminal are specified as the search conditions, searchinga route from the present position to the destination and transmitting tothe mobile communication terminal the information sources anddistribution condition list along the route shown by the searched routeinformation.
 20. A location-based information intermediation methodaccording to claim 2 or 3, wherein, when characters, figures or symbolshave a shared portion with regard to either the information source orthe distribution conditions in the step of transmitting the informationsource and distribution condition list, the shared portion ofcharacters, figures or symbols that are representative of an informationsource or distribution conditions are expressed collectively and only anunshared portion is transmitted correspondingly in a separate manner 21.A location-based information intermediation method according to claim 2or 3, wherein a provider of a predetermined content is billed dependingeither upon whether a registered terminal has accessed saidpredetermined content, or upon the number of access by the registeredterminal to said predetermined content.
 22. A location-based informationintermediation method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein a registeredterminal is billed depending upon the number of access in which saidregistered terminal has received the information source and distributioncondition list.
 23. A mobile communication terminal according to claim13, wherein a search-target area is defined as the search condition, andsaid search-target area is updated automatically as the mobilecommunication terminal moves.
 24. A mobile communication terminalaccording to claim 14, wherein a particular search-target area isspecified as the search condition and said particular search-target areais specified through an input screen.
 25. A mobile communicationterminal according to claim 14, wherein a particular type of thelocation-based information is specified as the search condition and saidparticular type of the location-based information is specified throughan input screen.
 26. A mobile communication terminal according to claim14, wherein a present position and a destination of the mobilecommunication terminal are specified as the search conditions through aninput screen.
 27. A mobile communication terminal according to claim 23or 24, wherein the search-target area is specified at least by a searchcenter position.
 28. A mobile communication terminal according to claim23, wherein the processing unit specifies a new search-target area thatis an area where the mobile communication terminal should reach bymoving a predetermined distance according to a moving history of themobile communication terminal.
 29. A mobile communication terminalaccording to claim 23, wherein the processing unit further comprisesmeans for altering a size of a search-target area according to thenumber of the information sources in the information source anddistribution condition list that has been received on or before theprevious time and specifying the altered search-target area as thesearch condition for the next search.
 30. A mobile communicationterminal according to claim 23, wherein the processing unit furthercomprises means for specifying new search-target area as the searchconditions and requesting the information source and distributioncondition list before the present position of the mobile communicationterminal leaves the search-target area that has been specified at theprevious time.
 31. A mobile communication terminal according to claim23, wherein the processing unit comprises means for specifying thesearch-target area at the present time and the search-target area at theprevious time as the search conditions simultaneously.
 32. A mobilecommunication terminal according to claim 23, further comprising anavigation unit, wherein the processing unit further comprises means forspecifying the search-target area along a route indicated by routeinformation that has retrieved by a destination as the search conditionsand requesting the intermediation computer system to provideintermediation support for predetermined location-based information. 33.A mobile communication terminal according to claim 11 or 12, wherein theprocessing unit comprises means for predicting a position of the mobilecommunication terminal based upon a moving history of the mobilecommunication terminal and then initiating access to the informationsource that corresponds to any of distribution conditions in theinformation source and distribution condition list when the predictedposition conforms to said distribution conditions.
 34. A mobilecommunication terminal according to claim 11 or 12, wherein theprocessing unit further comprises means for predicting a position of themobile communication terminal based upon a moving history of the mobilecommunication terminal and simultaneously altering the position to bepredicted depending upon a data size of the location-based information,and then initiating access to the information source that corresponds toany of distribution conditions in the information source anddistribution condition list when said altered predicted positionconforms to said distribution conditions.
 35. A mobile communicationterminal according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the processing unitcomprises means for altering the distribution area of the location-basedinformation in the information source and distribution condition listdepending upon the data size of said location-based information,verifying, for each information source, the position of the mobilecommunication terminal against said altered distribution area, and thenaccessing the verified information source.
 36. A mobile communicationterminal according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the processing unitcomprises means for altering the distribution area of the location-basedinformation in the information source and distribution condition listdepending upon moving speed of the mobile communication terminal,verifying, for each information source, the position of the mobilecommunication terminal against said altered distribution area, and thenaccessing the verified information source.
 37. A mobile communicationterminal according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the processing unitfurther comprises means for defining an expanded distribution area byexpanding the distribution area for the location-based information inthe information source and distribution condition list, and initiatingaccess to the information source that corresponds to the expandeddistribution area if the position of said mobile communication terminalconforms to said expanded distribution area, or presenting thelocation-based information of said information source if the presentposition of said mobile communication terminal conforms to thedistribution position before the expansion.
 38. A mobile communicationterminal according to claim 37, wherein the processing unit comprisesmeans for allowing the acquired location-based information to beoverwritable by releasing the acquired location-based information frommemory when the present position of the mobile communication terminalleaves the expanded distribution area.
 39. A mobile communicationterminal according to claim 11 or claim 12, wherein the processing unitfurther comprises means for verifying, for each information source,behavior of the mobile communication terminal including its locationagainst the distributions conditions of the information source indicatedin the received information source and distribution condition list, andaccessing the information source that conforms to said distributionconditions if the behavior conforms to the distribution conditions andthe location-based information is not stored in memory for such purpose.40. A mobile communication terminal, comprising: an input screen forissuing a request for transmission of a program to an application serveron a network, said program being executed for receiving an informationsource and distribution condition list that associates a location on thenetwork of an information source having predetermined location-basedinformation with distribution conditions that include a distributionarea of said location-based information, verifying, for each informationsource, behavior including a location of the mobile communicationterminal against the distribution conditions indicated in said receivedinformation source and distribution condition list; and means forinitiating said program after receiving said program.
 41. Alocation-based information intermediation and acquisition methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the intermediation computer systemadditionally transmits distribution bearing angle information thatlimits a moving direction of the mobile communication terminal as one ofthe distribution conditions in the information source and distributioncondition list to the mobile communication terminal; and said mobilecommunication terminal verifies the moving direction of said mobilecommunication terminal against the distribution bearing angle in saidinformation source and distribution condition list, accesses theinformation source that conforms to the distribution conditions so as toreceive the location-based information for presentation.